Love it or hate it, Taylor Swiftisn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. The singer graced the cover of New York magazine this week and was the subject of a lengthy cover story titled “Why Taylor Swift is the Biggest Pop Star in the World.”

During her interview, the 23-year-old opened up about songwriting, particularly on her recent album Red. “I heard from the guy that most of Red is about,” she admitted (the man in question is presumably Jake Gyllenhaal, whom she dated for just a couple of months in late 2010/early 2011). “He was like, ‘I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through an old photo album.'”

So, how did the actor’s confession compare to what she’s heard in the past? “That was nice,” she said. “Nicer than, like, the crazy, ranting e-mails I got from this one dude. It was a lot more mature way of looking at a love that was wonderful until it was terrible, and both people got hurt from it…but one of those people happened to be a songwriter.”

Now that Red’s been out for more than a year, and she’s just about wrapped up the album’s tour, Taylor will begin working on her fifth studio album. “I have a lot of things to draw from emotionally, at the moment,” she revealed. “But I have to draw from them with a different perspective than on Red.”

She added, “There’s a mistake I see artists make when they’re on their fourth or fifth record, and they think innovation is more important than solid songwriting. The most terrible letdown as a listener for me is when I’m listening to a song and see what they’re trying to do. Like, where there’s a dance break that doesn’t make any sense, there’s a rap that shouldn’t be there, there’s a beat change that’s, like, the coolest, hippest thing this six months–but it has nothing to do with the feeling, it has nothing to do with the emotion, it has nothing to do with the lyric.”

If she keeps up with her pattern over the last several years, expect a new album around this time next year.